


Do I tell her?

by ladybugpigtails (warriorprincessclarke)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, One sided reveal, POV Adrien Agreste, adrien knows about marinette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-22 22:52:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6096559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warriorprincessclarke/pseuds/ladybugpigtails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a fight Adrien is walking back as Adrien when he accidentally sees Ladybug change back to her normal self, Marinette. He is conflicted about what to do, to tell her the truth or let her think everything is normal. Matters get worse when he has to spend large amounts of time with both Marinette and Ladybug as Adrien and Chat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chat Noir bent over to catch his breath. He and Ladybug had just defeated Paris’s latest Akumatized civilian, and the two of them were exhausted. He glanced over at Ladybug who was sitting against the nearest wall. She was breathing hard but she smiled softly because they had defeated yet another of Hawkmoth’s minions. 

Chat strolled over and stood at her feet. He extended his fist to her and said, “pound it,” while nonchalantly looking over his shoulder. A soft bump hit his Miraculous ring. Satisfied, he finally made eye contact with her. He morphed his fist into an extended hand to help her up. Ladybug took it and then they were practically nose to nose. Chat was about to make a snarky comment when he noticed her earrings. The finally dot was pulsing, meaning that she was going to turn back at any second.

“Ladybug,” he said urgently, “your Miraculous. You’re going to switch back.” Part of him wanted to just keep quiet and figure out who she really was but the other part knew how important her identity was to her. Ladybug’s eyes widened to twice their normal size, and then she bolted.

“Thank you, Chat!” She yelled into the wind as she sped down the street. Chat fondly watched her go, he was mesmerized by her. He snapped himself out of it and started his journey home. It was nice out so he opted for a leisurely walk rather than flying through the roofs. Chat quickly changed back into Adrien mid stride. 

Adrien whistled a tune with his hands in his pockets as he walked down the quiet Paris sidewalks. He heard heavy breathing when he neared the bakery where Marinette lived. Pressed up against the wall was Ladybug, looking around to see if anyone could see her. Adrien instinctively jumped back so she wouldn’t see him. He peered around the corner of the bakery just in time to see her change. 

_ It can’t be… _ He thought, flabbergasted. In Ladybug’s place now stood Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Adrien knew he could not hide around that corner forever so he decided to act casual. He passed by the bakery as if he had not just figured out the identity of the love of his life. 

“Wah! Adrien?”  _ Damn.  _ Adrien was not in the mood to have to talk to her now, as if nothing had happened. As if he wasn’t in love with her. He would be as bumbling as she was.

“Oh hey Marinette, I didn’t see you there.” Adrien awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“Um, well I’m just going to head upstairs. No reason for me to be out this late.” Marinette’s laugh was entirely forced. She ran away before Adrien could even respond.  _ How is this girl Ladybug?  _ Adrien thought fondly to himself. He couldn’t exactly talk because he was far more quiet and reserved than his alter ego was.

All at once the thought struck him again, he knew who Ladybug was. And he knew her in real life. What was he going to do? He sprinted home to go lie face down on his bed and mull over what the hell he was going to do next.


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien was laying face down on his bed.

“You could just tell her, you would save yourself a lot of worrying if you just told her that you know.” Plagg said. Adrien’s only response was a loud, prolonged groan. “Alright, come on,” Plagg grabbed Adrien by a chunk of hair and pulled his head up right, “we are going to figure this out.”

Adrien pulled himself up to a seated position, but continued to pout. “I can’t just _tell_ her! She would put the pieces together and figure out that I am Chat Noir! I don’t know if I am ready to tell her who I am yet, what it ruins everything? What if we are never the same old Ladybug and Chat Noir again?” Adrien grabbed the nearest pillow and shoved his face into it.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Plagg asked.

“ _Everything will be ruined_ _!_ ”

“That has been established. It could be even worse if you keep it a secret though.”

Adrien motioned dismissively at Plagg, “Nah, I can handle it.”

* * *

Adrien could barely hear what his teacher was saying over the volume of his own thoughts. He could feel Marinette’s presence burning behind him. There had to be something he could do to relieve his stress.

The bell rang and the whole class started shuffling out of the room, but Adrien didn’t even notice. The only reason he wasn’t left alone in the classroom until the next morning was because the ever kind Marinette snapped him out of his trance. She poked him in the shoulder and said, “Adrien? Class is over, you know.”

Adrien looked up to see her smiling sweetly down at him. It wasn’t the fierce smile that Ladybug always adorned, this was all Marinette. And he loved every bit of it. He had never seen Marinette in this way before. She was so staunchly different than Ladybug but she complemented herself perfectly.

“Adrien?” She repeated herself.

Adrien jumped back into reality from his Marinette/Ladybug happy place. “Oh yeah, uhm, thanks Marinette.”

“No problem.” Marinette said shyly. Adrien almost lost himself in her eyes again but he pulled himself out of it.

“Well I better get going. See you later, L-” Adrien stopped dead in his tracks, “Heh, I mean Marinette. Uh, bye!” And he bolted out of the room.

Adrien ran into the boy’s locker room. He slammed his head against a locker and slid onto the ground. “That went horribly.”

“I bet everything would go better if you told her the truth.” Plagg’s tone was sing songy.

“No Plagg. I am going to try to make it work. Just wait, everything will be fine when we are together as Chat Noir and Ladybug.” He dearly hoped that that was true.

* * *

 

“What’s up, buttercup?” Chat Noir asked as he approached Ladybug. She was waiting in their usual meetup spot next to the fountain in the park. So far he had said three words without screwing it up, so in his mind everything was going swimmingly.

“Nothing new, Bugaboo.” Ladybug said. She launched herself up from her position on the lip of the fountain to meet him.

“Hey, you can’t use your nickname against me.” Chat teased.

“It rhymed, I had to. Plus there is nothing good that rhymes with kitty.”

“What about ‘pretty?’” Chat asked cheekily.

“Not on your life, Chat.” Ladybug flicked the bell under his chin. She grazed his neck in the process and he almost purred out loud. _No Adrien, this is going so well. You can’t screw it up now._

“So m’lady, what have we got in store tonight?” Chat casually crossed his arms over his body and puffed out his chest. He felt confident.

“Actually Chat, I kind of have a favor to ask of you.” Ladybug said sheepishly.

“Anything for you, Bugaboo.” He smiled lovingly at her. In response she slugged him in the arm.

“Really this is important. So there is this family that I know and some guy is really mad at them, I think he thinks that the family cheated him out of some money but I think that that is not quite true. Either way this guy is mad. I think Hawkmoth might try to Akumatize him and I just want to make sure that the family is safe. I won’t be available tomorrow so would you watch over them for the day?” She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes and her hands clasped under her chin.

Chat was comforted that at least everything seemed to be normal in Chat Noir’s life. Maybe he and Ladybug would be fine after all. “Of course, who are they?”

“You know that girl Marinette?” Chat’s heart skipped a few hundred beats. Ladybug kept talking but Chat didn’t hear a word. He was going to have to spend an entire Saturday with Marinette, as Chat Noir. What was he supposed to do?

“Uh, huh, yeah right, Marinette. The cute one with the pigtails like yours?” He shouldn’t have said that. Ladybug was sure to know he knew now.

“Yeah, that one.” Marinette seemed defensive.

“No problem! I will do that. Tomorrow? All day? Are you sure it has to be all day because I bet that Marinette girl can handle herself pretty well. She looks pretty tough.” Chat mentally slapped himself, but it turns out the only way to deal with his situation was to joke about it.

He could see the pain in Ladybug’s eyes as she said, “No I think she needs someone to protect her.” Chat knew that that must have stung her pride, but he kind of loved it.

“If you say so. You’ve got it m’lady. I will protect your little friend.”

“Thank you, Chat. It means a lot.”

“No problem, Bugaboo. I’m sure it does.” He said knowingly. Ladybug looked at him with a confused look so he quickly rebounded. “Well! We should start patrolling the city now, someone’s gotta keep an eye out for bad guys.”

He lept into the nearest tree and propelled himself through the streets of Paris, and

Ladybug followed. Although he had almost made peace with knowing Ladybug’s identity, the entire night he could not stop thinking about what kind of complications the next day would bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little longer than last time and I hope that the next chapter will be even longer. Right now I am planning on having 2 more chapters or maybe 1 if I am feeling like a lot of writing in the next few days. We will see what happens.


	3. Chapter 3

Chat Noir sat on the roof of Marinette’s house just out of sight of her bedroom windows. He was hopelessly trying to psych himself up to waltz into her house and introduce himself as her family’s protector for the day. It should not be this hard, since he and Marinette both already knew what was going on. But he had to pretend like he did not know that she already knew and she had to pretend that she did not already know. Everyone had to pretend.

Eventually Chat decided that it was now or never and jumped onto Marinette’s balcony. He approached her glass door. He could see her sitting at her desk writing something, probably doing homework. Her back was to him so he had a moment to compose himself. Chat took a deep breath then rapped on the glass. Marinette jumped but seemed to quickly remember who was supposed to be paying her a visit. She motioned for him to enter her room.

“Hello there sweet pea. A little Ladybug told me that you need a bodyguard for today.” Chat tried to make himself look tough and muscular, because he knew it would bother Marinette’s inner Ladybug.

“Yep, Ladybug told me that alright. I can’t believe I get to have Chat Noir all to myself.” Everything about that was so fake and Chat could not help but giggle. “What?”

“Oh nothing. I’m just flattered that’s all.” He lied through his teeth. At least now that he could joke around, the day didn’t seem like it would be too bad. When Marinette did not respond Chat filled the silence, “So are your parents downstairs?”

“Yeah they are working in the bakery. It’s probably best not to have Chat Noir hanging out in the middle of the bakery, that might worry the customers.” She laughed awkwardly. Even though she knew Chat so well, Marinette was still the same old Marinette.

“I don’t know, I think I could attract customers. Maybe show off the old guns,” he flexed his biceps dramatically, “Ooh! Or think about this, ‘just one dollar and you get a kiss from the one and only Chat Noir!’” He looked at her expectantly, anxious to see her try to hide her inner Ladybug.

“You want to sell yourself in my parent’s bakery?” Marinette said flatly. 

“Well when you put it like that…”

Marinette laughed at him. He could see Ladybug’s personality shining through.

          “Well I guess make yourself at home,” Marinette gestured around her room, “I have some work to do so, do whatever it is superheros do.”

           “We ‘superheros’ can't do much unless there's a bad guy to fight. Maybe I can just take a cat nap.” Chat sprang up to Marinette's loft bed and spread himself out. He rolled into his stomach so he could see her reaction better. The reactions that Marinette makes up as if she did not already know Chat amused him to no end. If he was going to have to deal with keeping his knowledge a secret, he could at least get a few laughs out of it.

           “I mean you can if you want to. I'm not going to get in your way.” She acted nonchalant. Much more Ladybug than high strung Marinette.

           “Or maybe not.” Chat swung his legs around so he was sitting with his legs dangling off of the bed. “Maybe I'll keep you company.”

            Marinette seemed  flustered, “Well, if that's what you want. Sure we can hang out.” Chat had to admit that he regretted suggesting that a little bit. How was he going to handle talking to Marinette for an extended period of time without letting on that he knows her secret?

            The two of them sat in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds until Marinette made a feeble attempt to save the moment, “Soooooo, what is life like in Chat Noir’s world?”

“Hah, well half of the time it is pretty normal. I don’t have to be Chat all the time, I have a normal life too.” Chat thought that she might be more interested in hearing about all things not Chat Noir, because she was there for anything he could tell her.

Flustered again, Marinette said, “Oh I didn’t even think about how you would have a normal life. In my eyes you are just Chat Noir.” He guessed that this was not far from the truth. Although he speculated that she was at least a little curious to his identity.

“Yeah I go to school just like every other kid, homework, all of that fun stuff.”

“I would ask you where you went to school but if I knew what school you went to, that could ruin your secret identity. That is pretty important to you and Ladybug isn’t it?” She asked faux innocently. Chat was sure that she was trying to make him feel guilty for that time he wanted to see her identity and almost opened the closet door on her. It was probably for her own vindication though because to her knowledge, Chat had no idea that he was speaking to Ladybug.

“Yeah if people knew who we were, who knows what would happen. Too many people asking for photos, autographs…” Marinette threw Chat a look that said,  _ really?  _ Chat smiled guiltily at her, trying to get her to laugh. Marinette tried hard to continue scowling but in the end she broke and started giggling.

“You know Chat, you are actually pretty funny.” If Chat had been drinking something, it would have been all over the floor. He never thought that Ladybug actually enjoyed his cocky humour. Despite his reservations, knowing Ladybug’s secret identity was getting better and better every second.

“You know Marinette,” Chat said mockingly, “Ladybug would not agree with you. I’m glad at least  _ someone  _ recognizes my comedic genius.”

Marinette became defensive, “Well genius may be stretching it a lit-”

Suddenly a large bang came from below in the bakery. Chat was immediately on his feet and running towards the stairs. He looked back to see Marinette following him, “No Marinette, stay here I don’t want you getting hurt.” Chat knew that Marinette was tough as nails but without her Miraculous activated he couldn’t take any chances.

“No I have to make sure my parents are okay.” Marinette said with the assertiveness and confidence Chat knew so well. 

Chat mulled it over for a second then decided, “Fine but please stay behind me and let me lead.” Marinette agreed though Chat could feel that it was begrudgingly.

They ran down the stairs and stopped where the wall still blocked them from most of the bakery. Chat put a finger to his lips and peeked around the corner. He cast his arm out behind him to hold Marinette back by gently placing his hand on her stomach.

Chat immediately knew that Marinette was not going to like what she saw. There were no patrons in the bakery and chairs and tables were thrown everywhere, the entire room was torn apart. Against the far wall Marinette’s parents huddled together while a clearly Akumatized man loomed over them. 

Chat turned around and held Marinette tight by the shoulders. “Please stay here.” He begged her.

“I will don’t worry.” He didn’t know if he could trust that she would but he had no choice but to believe her.

“Thank you,” He rubbed his thumbs fondly over the top of her shoulders, “I will fix everything.”

Chat rounded the corner, he strolled to the middle of the room, directly behind the villain, and crossed his arms and cocked out his hip. He called out, “It looks like it’s time for you to get some payback.” The villain turned around no sooner than making eye contact with him, Chat pulled out his staff and ran towards the villain. The two of them grappled before the villain pushed Chat away. Chat raced around the bakery while the villain hurled razor sharp coins at him. 

“If you want money so badly, I’d say you should stop throwing it everywhere!” Chat taunted. This sent the villain over the edge, he laughed maniacally and threw out eight coins at once. They grabbed the fabric around Chat’s limbs and pinned him against the wall. He was trapped, the razor sharp coins were too close to his skin, he couldn’t move without risking cutting himself. He frantically looked around the room, looking for Marinette. He found her still partially behind the wall next to the stairs. She wasn’t looking at him, that would put her in sight of the villain. 

Chat debated what he should do. He knew that Marinette could help him, but that would require her transforming right in front of him. She could never escape and come back in a way where it wasn’t obvious that she was Ladybug. But on the other hand he knew how important her identity was to her and if she changed now, both he and her parents would know. He had to think of something fast because the villain was almost close enough to touch him. Chat was just opening his mouth to buy himself some time when he heard a high pitched yell.

“Chat!” Marinette came running into the bakery. He followed her arms down to her bag that she was opening. Out popped a little red blob that flew up to her shoulder.  _ Oh no, _ Chat thought,  _ that’s her Kwami. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a bit cliff hanger-y because I don't have the energy to finish off the entire fic tonight. I am planning on one more chapter to round things out nicely. thank you all for reading and always tell me if you're liking it bc comments make me very happy <3


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